www.incontinentsupport.org

I currently use disposable diapers for my incontinence and am managing well, but can anyone tell me, what advantages do cloth diapers have over disposable. I am currently only urine incontinent.
Kakapo

There is an excellent section in the http://www.incontinentsupport.org/primer_index.php diaper primer on the main site that will fill in a lot of blanks for you and I would suggest reading the section on cleaning them too.
In a nutshell, they are cheaper in the long run. I began using cloth about 6 or 7 months ago and by my math, right about now is when I would be breaking even. This is figuring in diapers, covers, and how I keep them clean. Also I can't use them everyday because I wear disposables at work so that is why it is just now breaking even. From this point on I am saving money and all my diapers are still looking great. I think I have one of my day weight diapers that is getting a hole in it close to where I use a pin. Other then that, I fully expect to get at least another year out of these, if not longer.
Biggest learning curve for me was to figure out a process to get them clean. I started out just throwing them in with the regular wash and it did not take long to see or more precisely smell that was not working. Now that i have a system, it is no big deal at all.

Rope

What is your system of keeping your cloth diapers clean smelling?

I wash my night diapers in "Dreft" and have a second rinse cycle they go through.
I will only wash 2 diapers at a time and I add bleach to the wash.
The diapers that I use are Gauze Prefold from Angelfluff. http://www.angelfluff.com/nfGAUZEprefolded.htm
2 of them with 2 flannel inserts work great.


Schoppy

Schoppy,

I actually fallow the primer pretty close. I use flannal prefolds from Angelfluff and to wash them, I have a plastic storage tub with a lid. I'll fill the tub with about 5 to 6 inches of water with about a cup of vinegar. I'll throw the wet diaper(I am only bladder incontinent) in the tub to soak. I'll wait till I have about five diapers in the tub.(4 if two are night diapers). Once I have a load, I'll throw those in the washer along with what water is left in the tub and do one round of a prewash with the water level set at high. Then, when that is done, I'll add my detergent along with my waterproof covers and set it to do a wash cycle for whites. When that is done, I'll take out the covers, hang them up and jrun the rinse cycle again. With all that done, I'll put them in the dryer for about 50 minutes at medium heat and when that is done, they will be mostly dry. I'll either hang them up in our walk in closet or hang them on a clothes line outside in the sun. Once totally dry, I fold them up and put them on the bottom of the pile so I rotate through them all.
Only thing I forgot to mention was I also have a small squirt bottle with pine Sol in it to mput about three or four sprays on each side of the diaper before it goes in the tub.

This routine has kept smells at bay very well.

I used to use terry nappies for night-time only. (I don't think absorbent products work very well for wheelchair users) and found they were superior to disposables in that they contain the urine even when side-sleeps. Of course, things are a bit different for a male as directionality is changed by sleeping on the side but I think terry allowed more absorbency and worked better.

I hate laundry but, and now that I am married again (1 year) (widower) I still insist on washing my diapers (wife says she has no problem with washing them but I still feel embarrassed about it) I wash every five days or so and usually have 8 to 12 diapers. I also wash twice. First time with hot water a small amount of bleach and detergent. I throw in my plastic pants for the second "washing" but no bleach and no detergent. The residue laundry detergent is enough to clean the plastic pants and the second go around keeps the diapers pretty free of detergent. I throw the diapers in the dryer and hang up the plastic pants. The whole time spent doing this is minutes. Other than the machine time washing and drying. I can't understand people complaining about washing (diapers or what ever) seriously. 2 minutes to carry to washer. 1 minute loading it in. another minute turning it on a second time and adding plastic pants, 30 seconds to throw in dryer, 1 minute to hang up pants. 2 minutes to fold diapers. What was that - 6 1/2 minutes total? Seriously! Papa

Indeed, Papa! With modern machines there is really no effort at all to deal with washables.

I used to dry store the first night's and wash two sets together after the second night. I used to wash the pants in the shower so that they stayed soft and supple for longer. Absolutely no effort.

Oh, and they certainly held the volume of liquid better than a disposable. Really, if you can't used sheaths (external catheters) or some other drainage system, washables are the way to go - at night anyway.

Before someone jumps on me about my statement about hating to do laundry when I made it sound like it's no big deal let me explain something. The reason I hate it is because of the "rules" for normal laundry. ie. Separate whites from colors, this material from that, machine dry this but not that. I learned the hard way! After my wife died I obviously had to do my laundry. she had always done it since she was a 'stay at home mom' and I worked long days. My first real screw up came 5 years after she died and after the cancer that left me incontinent. I had thrown a pile of work bench rags I had bought down the cellar stairs. I brought my diapers down to wash them, and being a guy and being efficient I tossed all of it in the wash. The term 'bleed' was about to hit reality. The rags were bright red. When I removed the wash - EVERYTHING was red. Diapers and all. Luckily I was single. And for the guys out there, rewashing them did little to improve the situation. I now throw away the rags and buy new ones. After I got remarried I went down to throw my diapers in and found my wife had a load in the wash. Being a good husband and all I tossed them in the dryer for her, and to clear up the washer. WELL! Apparently women's clothes are made of totally different material than men's are. She came up from the laundry, half pissed and half smiling. Sitting next to me she said in total deadpan "Honey, NEVER TOUCH MY LAUNDRY AGAIN!" I asked why. Holding up some select things, she said, "Because now my things fit Caroline!" Caroline is my 5 year old grand daughter. I got the point. Papa
I hate laundry, well more correctly I hate laundry 'rules'.

I wash mine hot, extended cycle, with clorine bleach. I hang them out in the sun to dry, which also helps manage the odor, and never use fabric softener, because it diminishes absorbency.

Papa, You really had me laughing there with that one.

_________________
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